What do you use for washing thoes smelly blankets?

[Tarah]

I do,
I have seven males (soon to be eight) and eight females. But my girls blankets smell, as do my boys.

 

[emerson]

I just switched back to carefresh and bedding too because of smell, and I have girls, can't imagine boys. :? *shudders*

 

[Tarah]

My boys arn't actually that bad.. Although i hear a lot of things about bad boy smell all the time..

 

[Maple]

Ohh Jo. I wish I could be so lucky.
Here they smelll sooo bad. And the cage is cleaned every other day.
I don't get it.

I'm with you Tarah, but I'm beginning to think some people just DON'T smell it. I clean the cage, top to bottom, and within 24 hours I smell them, yet my daughter can come in the house and while I'm ranting about the stink, she is looking at me like I'm nuts. I'm gagging and she honestly can't smell a thing. How can this be we live in the same house!
No time in my house for air drying but I'm not wondering if its the fabric softener. I thought it would help mask the problem but maybe it is the problem. Next load my ratties will think there's french fries somewhere in the cage....white vinegar and no softener! :thumbup:
I have 6 females and 2 neutered males and they are all the same....stinky. I don't know Tarah, you and I seem to be doing the same thing. I never used while vinegar but I'm hoping this will be the solution, although I'm still trying different methods to hold carefresh inside. Freezer space was a problem as well until my wonderful husband bought me a deep freezer just for rodent things. Haven't had a problem with bugs since.

 

[ryelle]

I have a LOT of 'liners' - its almost an obsession i think, i have different coloured sets, and different hammock sets - and im always buying new fleece, so i dont think any one of my fleece liners are used a lot over and over

 

[pinkies_mama]

we use color safe bleach and add fabric softener before the last rinse and drain cycle, then dry in a drier. No problems here, and the blankets are really soft after wards :heart:

 

[StaceyM]

Mine don't seem to smell at all once washed, and a rat smell free house is necessary around here to keep the hubby happy. I stopped using the fleece liners, just because they would work so hard to tear them up to pee on the plastic, but still have a significant number of hammocks and sleep cubes to wash.

I just use tide with warm water on the heavily soiled cycle. Sometimes I line dry, but otherwise use the dryer with no fabric softener, just 6-8 dryer balls. I find it cuts the drying time in half and no idea how, but I get no static, even with fleece. (It does however sound like a stampede of horses )

 

[RattyDreamer]

Until very recently, I was just throwing my lots bedding and fleecey stuff in the wash with just normal detergent and nothing else... if the weather was good, it got hung outside, if not then it was thrown in the drier. This was getting me NOWHERE with getting the stink out. So I've started leaving them in a bucket for a night or two, with a good dose of white vinegar, a small amount of washing powder, and of course water. Then it gets thrown into the washing machine with just normal wash powder and line dried... NO MORE SMELL!! The bucket really reeks afterwards... but the bedding no longer does! LOL! So I'd say definitely give the vinegar a go (soak it overnight if possible) and whenever possible, definitely line dry, as I too have noticed that the smell lingers more if it's dried in the drier.

 

[scanrat]

i don't have a washer or drier, so I wash my fleece (i use a bunch of small pieces instead of liners, and litter boxes) in the bathtub with some scent free detergent. i let them soak for about 15 minutes then rinse and wring them out them out with hot water, and line dry them. I do this about every other day! its a little labor intensive probably if you are used to having a washer and drier, but I dont mind it one bit. once they are dry they smell fresh and good as new!

 

[Arkeld]

Mmh, I find this topic odd. I use fleece and change it three times a week. It goes in the washing machine with whatever detergent I use for my own clothes, then I leave it to dry over the radiator (dries quickly anyway). So far, I have not had any issue with it smelling at all.

One thing that might help, is to put newspaper under the fleece in the cage so the pee goes through the fleece and at least a portion of it gets absorbed by the paper. Works for me at least.

 

[brittanyfork]

That is a wicked idea! ^
I'm gonna try that.

 

[cotton+lycra]

I put my fleece in for washing the same way as i would my clothes (detergent and softner) then put it in the dryer. Once its been in long enough that its completely dry i air them in the house or in the garden, depending on the weather. I find this keeps most of the smell away for quite a long time. my oldest liner i have had since christmas, and that doesnt smell one bit.

 

[kmom]

i put them in the bathtub,in extra hot water. i use gain (which may be to smelly, but i rinse well) and let it sit till it it cools, and then i rinse, and re-wash...then i air dry them (on metal chairs since i live in an apartment, and i don't have a dryer/clothesline/etc).... they don't smell to me...

 

[Moon]

Mmh, I find this topic odd. I use fleece and change it three times a week. It goes in the washing machine with whatever detergent I use for my own clothes, then I leave it to dry over the radiator (dries quickly anyway). So far, I have not had any issue with it smelling at all.

One thing that might help, is to put newspaper under the fleece in the cage so the pee goes through the fleece and at least a portion of it gets absorbed by the paper. Works for me at least.

See, I find the smell of rat urine soaked newspaper the nastiest thing. It's odd because I use newspaper to help soak up the occasional dog pee at work, and even if it's not that much pee I find it smells terribly if it's the rats. I don't even give them newspaper to rip up for fun any more, because of the smell. But I am pretty sure this is just a weird thing that only I seem to deal with... heh.

 

[henry's_mum]

Mmh, I find this topic odd. I use fleece and change it three times a week. It goes in the washing machine with whatever detergent I use for my own clothes, then I leave it to dry over the radiator (dries quickly anyway). So far, I have not had any issue with it smelling at all.

One thing that might help, is to put newspaper under the fleece in the cage so the pee goes through the fleece and at least a portion of it gets absorbed by the paper. Works for me at least.

See, I find the smell of rat urine soaked newspaper the nastiest thing. It's odd because I use newspaper to help soak up the occasional dog pee at work, and even if it's not that much pee I find it smells terribly if it's the rats. I don't even give them newspaper to rip up for fun any more, because of the smell. But I am pretty sure this is just a weird thing that only I seem to deal with... heh.

not at all a weird thing that you only deal with, i'm the same... even cardboard tubes, I take out soon after they rip 'em up, they stink up FAST...

 

[Tarah]

I used to use newspaper, and It was the WORST! uke:

 

[ryelle]

Mmh, I find this topic odd. I use fleece and change it three times a week. It goes in the washing machine with whatever detergent I use for my own clothes, then I leave it to dry over the radiator (dries quickly anyway). So far, I have not had any issue with it smelling at all.

One thing that might help, is to put newspaper under the fleece in the cage so the pee goes through the fleece and at least a portion of it gets absorbed by the paper. Works for me at least.

Thats exactly what i do, newspaper under the fleece (mostly cus i still got wooden shelves in the cage and its a pain to scrub down and it stops the fleece from staying wet), wash normally (except i use Fairy cus of Sids skin condition >< ) and either dry on the line depending on the weather or just shot em on the radiators.

 

[Country rat]

actually if you put them outside in the winter overnight the frost will help take out the smells.... I was suggested to use a type of dish soap that is an smell elimator i am going to try it my friend used it on her dog blankets i was think if i soaked the liners in it before i wash them it might help. but bubble chews so bat that there isn't much left to the pouches to wash.

 

[handmeafish]

What about Natures Miracle? They have a laundry booster...

 

[PitLuvs]

We use Arm & Hammer scent/dye free (since we use that on cloth diapers), some fabric softner and a fabric sheet in the dryer on hot.

One thing we do (again, because we cloth diaper) is every 2 weeks we do a load of all the rat bedding like we normally do, then we run it through 5 full cycles of HOT water/no soap and then dry. I find the hot water over and over gets all the stinkies out. We have to do this with the diapers to get the soap buildup out. One urine hits soap buildup, it reeks. I figure if cloth diapers get buildup of soap over time, wouldn't rat bedding do it too? Thats my take on it lol